


Fictional Murders...?

by GiveThemARest_WaitNo



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2018-08-24 15:16:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8377000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiveThemARest_WaitNo/pseuds/GiveThemARest_WaitNo
Summary: Reid's favorite series of crime stories on the internet seems connected to previously unlinkable murders... Let's have the team investigate (and maybe Reid suffer at some point...)





	1. Chapter 1

“Panic. It was incredibly hard to concentrate on holding his breath with that fucking part of his brain knowing that he would eventually have to breathe in – breathe in the water. Just the fear of the oncoming pain – when the water would be sucked into his lungs – made him endure the growing need for air. First, he had fought back - Fought against the hands pushing him head first into the tub of water. But now he needed all his strength to fight his own natural urges. He wished for his death, but couldn’t bring himself to finally end it. There was a small, new, ridiculous hope left, which made him rather breath out the little air left in his lungs than-

Something in his chest cramped painfully. Reflexively he breathed in. First it was like he swallowed the wrong way making him cough automatically. But rather than getting rid of the strangely dry water in his lungs coughing only drew in more water. Again and again his tortured body tried to cough up the burning water his body spasming in his captor’s hands.

At some point there were no more bubbles of air fleeing his lungs to the surface and he only coughed out water and bile. He desperately tried to stop this agonizing cycle but failed miserably.

What felt like eternity in his mind, only took a couple of minutes in reality. When his body stayed limp for another couple of minutes, the young woman pulled him out of the tub. His body was heavier now, but not as pale as drowned people go, when they are in the water for a long time. His face was flushed and his neck and shoulders had her angry red handprints on them. Hectically she rubbed at them trying to make them go away.”

JJ finishes reading from her tablet. The team looks up from their printouts all more or less in a daze either from the story or being called in at an early hour. Reid puts the cap back on his marker pen, with which he has marked his text in a cryptic color code. “She`s killing suicidal patients.” All heads snap to him eyebrows raised questioning. “She beliefs, she shows them how painful their planned suicide would be – to cure them, you know. Obviously she doesn`t realize, that she kills them in the process…”

 Emily tilts her head. “You can`t say all that from that excerpt, can you?”

Reid grins sheepishly. “I read the next chapter. It`s been uploaded this morning and the deadly psychiatrist is actually a returning character in the web series.”

“The author publishes these crime stories online in regular intervals” JJ continues “and each story is first told from the victim’s point of view and then the investigator’s.”

“But these are fictional murders, aren’t they? Please?” Garcia is still tightly gripping her toy-cat and Morgan puts a comforting arm around her.

“Well, that`s what I called you in for.” With a swipe on JJ’s tablet a series of photographs appears on the screen in from of them. A middle aged-man. Dead. Dumped at the side of the road. Dark handprints on his neck and shoulders.

“He drowned even though the next water is miles from the site where he was found.”

“And what makes the locals think, that this is connected with this web series?” Hotch puts his printout back on the table. “One similar body does not justify this theory.”

A new set of photos is swiped onto the screen. This time there are three different bodies: A man, with a nasty bullet wound where his right eye should be, another man – slightly younger - , whose whole body is a mess of stab wounds and blood, and a woman, almost completely burnt with only her unharmed face sticking out of the black ash.

JJ points at the monitor. “First the local force investigated these murders all separately. But each of the bodies was found after a new chapter was published. And every time the victim in the story matches the body.”


	2. Chapter 2

Suddenly everything is dark. The sound of the heavy door's impact in its frame is still hanging in the air. It smell smells damp and stale.

Reid needs a moment to properly register what just happened. 

Garcia had found the author's home address. And he volunteered to pay her a visit since she was the only link between the murders they had up to now. She could be in danger for all they know.   
He had been looking forward to meeting her. He considered himself a fan of her web series. 

She publishes her work under the name S. Thorn and Reid had to admit that he was exited to find out that her real name was Samantha Bornwood. 

He asked her all the standard questions: Has she ever met any of her fans in person? - no; Can she think any fan sticking out? Maybe creating especially gruesome fan art? - no; Anyone else who might want to harm her in some way? - Not that she could think of. 

She seemed oddly calm under the prospect of her fictional murders becoming real ones, but maybe having your mind come up with detailed descriptions of cruel murders does that to you. 

After some small talk Samantha Bornwood asked Reid if he wanted to help her with her next chapter. He was thrilled and followed her into some kind of back room she was leading him to. 

That was when the door smashed shut. 

Why would she do that? Does she know the Unsub? Is she protecting him?  
At least Reid is onto something. He reaches to grab his phone but it is not in his pocket.


	3. Chapter 3

“Without any kind of light source he felt around in the darkness his feet making muffled sounds on the concrete floor. The room seemed very well isolated. The walls felt soft under his hands – just like the walls of an isolation cell in a psych ward. 

Detective Adams had trusted her and blindly walked into a trap. He cursed himself under his breath. His only real lead – the only connection between the victims – was a hit. It had been too easy. He had been careless. Doctor Ferris must know who killed the patients. Was she protecting somebody? Or had it been her all along?

He felt queasy. He was mad at himself. He sat against the padded wall thinking. 

He wasn't able to focus. He felt like throwing up. He bent foreward and everything went blurry. He closed his eyes.”

Hotch switches his phone off. He glances up and Prentis has finished reading as well. “Nobody died.” He nods. “I'll tell Garcia to keep a look at the missing persons line.” He dials the number.

Over the last two hours he and Prentis have been talking to the victims' families. There are no apparent links between the victims. They all just disappeared from one day to the other. And none of them showed signs of being suicidal. The only noteworthy thing is that at least two of them seem to have read the online crime series.


End file.
